Intel's Tax Burden Is One-third of Samsung's
The Federation of Korean Industries recently analyzed six South Korean companies representing the nation's top seven export industries and their seven rivals.
The seven sectors are semiconductor, consumer electronics, display, mobile phone, automobile, petrochemical and shipbuilding. The six South Korean companies are Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, LG Display, Hyundai Motor Co., LG Chem and Hyundai Heavy Industries. The seven foreign companies are Intel, Whirlpool, BOE, Apple, Volkswagen, BASF and CSSC.
“Last year, the foreign companies’ sales were 220 percent of those of the South Korean companies and the former’s assets were 130 percent of the latter’s,” it said, adding, “With Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics excluded, the sales and asset gaps amounted to 300 percent and 180 percent, respectively.” It also mentioned that the former’s market cap was 3.1 times the latter’s at the end of last year.
According to the federation, the two groups’ R&D investments were US$8.4 billion and US$5.8 billion in 2021, respectively. “On the other hand, when it comes to the ratio of corporate tax to pre-tax profit, the South Korean companies’ average was 25.7 percent whereas the foreign companies’ average stood at 15.7 percent,” it said, continuing, “In the semiconductor sector, Samsung Electronics’ sales were US$79.1 billion, Intel’s were US$79 billion, and their corporate tax burdens were 25.2 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.”
In the mobile phone sector, Samsung Electronics’ sales were US$91.8 billion, Apple’s sales were US$365.8 billion, and their burdens were 25.2 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively.
In display, LG Display’s burden was 22.4 percent and BOE’s was 13.9 percent, with the latter’s sales about 130 percent of the former’s. In automobile, Hyundai Motor Co.’s sales were about one-third of Volkswagen’s and yet the former’s corporate tax burden exceeded the latter’s by 5.2 percentage points.